(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Silent Requiem - Chapter 3 (End)

Happy Fourth of July everyone~

Chapter Warning: Swearing

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"I'm sorry..."

Lotus tried to turn around, but Rurik tightened their grip to hold him in place, "Just listen for a minute." The skeleton took a deep breath before continuing, "I shouldn't have attacked you; even if I wasn't in my right mind, it was wrong and you got hurt because of me... and it could have been so much worse. I... I don't think you should be around me anymore."

Lotus jolted at the statement, forcing himself out of the taller's hold to turn around in their lap and face them; the shamefaced skeleton averted their eye lights, refusing to look at him. 

Rurik was serious.

Oblivious to his expression, Rurik went on, "You won't have to worry about finding a place; you can stay here and I'll find an apartment somewhere else.. or you can move out if you don't feel comfortable staying here and I'll pay for the rent there. Whatever you want to do, I'll make it work; it's the least I can do for-"

Lotus cut the monster off with a sharp punch to the sternum, ignoring the sting it produced while leveling his dirtiest glare once he had Rurik's attention, "You better liste-," he stopped himself, making a face as he corrected himself, "read my words and read them very closely Rurik Roller; I'm not going anywhere and you better not either. If you dare to say anything like that ever again, I'll hit you again; if you ever try to disappear on me, I'll track you down and hit you even harder! You said you'd do right by me, so you better stick around and prove it!"

"I am trying to do right by you!" Rurik snarled, though it had none of its usual bite, "I'm trying to protect you by making sure something like this never happens again; I'm a danger to you!"

"Do you really think I give a damn about that; do you really think that's going to protect me?!" Lotus screeched back, "We live in Underfell, everything's a danger to me! There's never a guarantee of survival here; that's why we have to stick together and watch each other's back!" He took several breaths to regain his composure, glad his partner couldn't hear the quivering break in his voice, "We've already been together for so long and done so much to make this work; don't you dare bail out on me now."

Conflict danced in Rurik's eye lights as he asked in a subdued tone, "But what if I attack you again?"

"Then I'll talk you down again," Lotus answered, positing his own question, "Do you really think I'll be any safer or better out there by myself than with you? At least I know what to expect with you." After a brief pause, he added on, "It might also help if you tell me more about your time in the military too; you asked about battalions and commanders and went off when I couldn't answer you."

"That's... possible," Rurik looked as if he was trying to recall the conversation and came up blank; frustration formed in his expression as he growled, "we can talk about that stuff later." Being careful not to knock his headphones off as he leaned his skull back against the couch cushion, the monster sighed, "How the hell did you get to be so stubborn?"

"It's my best weapon when you're being a dumbass," Lotus huffed, crossing his arms... at least he would have if not for the twinge of pain when his right hand made contact with his left arm.

Lotus shifted to get a better look at the injury when his partner snatched up the appendage, bringing it closer for inspection while clucking in disbelief, "Did you seriously bruise your hand punching me just now?"

Avoiding eye contact with him, the smaller groused, "It's not like I was trying to... I was angry..."

With a short snort of laughter, Rurik sat up and reached over the table toward the first aid kit. A quick perusal produced a small white and blue bag; one of those instant cold packs. After smushing it in between his hands, he laid it on Lotus' knuckles. The smaller flinched as the initial cold bit into his bones, only relaxing once it began to numb away the pain.

"You're really sure you want to stay with me?" the hooded monster looked up to find Rurik staring in uncertainty; that look spoke volumes of how much he had changed from the violent sadist of the past who wouldn't give a second thought to the pain of others as long as it didn't inconvenience him. This was one of those rare vulnerable moments he only allowed Lotus to see.

Carefully letting his injured hand rest on his leg, Lotus replied, "Yeah, there's no one else I trust more than you and...," suddenly, he didn't feel so sure of himself and his eye light drifted away, "and I'd like to think you feel the same about me..."

He knew it was silly to question it; Rurik wouldn't keep him around if they didn't trust him, but there was still that nagging doubt in the back of his mind telling him he wasn't that reliable... wasn't that why his partner suggested they break up...?

A hand cupped Lotus' cheek, guiding his skull up to his boyfriend's stern expression, "You should already know the answer to that; do you really think you'd know half the things you know about me if I didn't trust you not to use it against me?"

"I guess not...," the smaller muttered, though his mouth twitched with a slight smile at the affirmation.

"Good, then don't you forget it," Rurik grunted, giving him a soft peck on the forehead before settling back into the couch cushions. Sensing the end of the conversation, Lotus turned in the taller skeleton's lap and reached for the T.V. remote with his good hand. Flipping over to a channel that was showing something other than holiday festivities, he made sure to turn on the closed captioning before tossing the remote on the couch next to them.

Knowing Rurik would want to keep him close for the rest of the evening, Lotus scooted back against their exposed ribcage. He felt the taller shift to accommodate him in their lap while hugging him closer as he rested his skull against their sternum.

Sure, things weren't perfect and there were bound to be rough days, but for now, he could take comfort in the slow rise and fall of Rurik's breathing and enjoy the peaceful moment they managed to salvage from the day. Gradually, the steady rhythm and television noise drowned out the presence of the fireworks outside until they were nothing but an afterthought.

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Word Count: 1,129